Vietnam’s Richest Man Doubles Profit As His Conglomerate Posts Gains In Property, Cars,…

Vietnam’s mega-conglomerate Vingroup reported a 102% profit jump in the third quarter following quick home sales at three housing projects along with growth in its subsidiaries that make vehicles and smartphones.

Net profit reached 1.4 trillion dong ($60 million) for a steep gain over the same period of 2019, Vingroup announced on Friday. The group owned by Vietnam’s richest person Pham Nhat Vuong pointed to sales at three housing projects in the July-September span plus “robust growth in sales” for auto-making subsidiary VinFast and the group’s smartphone company VinSmart.

Vingroup’s financials reflect broader economic trends in Vietnam, where officials expect mild economic growth this year and a 6.5% gain in 2021 despite impacts from the global Covid-19 outbreak.

The Southeast Asian country of 97 million people has managed to hold its reported coronavirus cases at 1,177, allowing work and basic services to continue after an earlier shutdown in April. The country, billed as a manufacturing alternative to China, lost little momentum in producing goods for export, though it was facing weak demand due to stay-home orders in major importer nations such as the U.S.

The group’s Vinhomes subsidiary sold 2,400 units in its Ho Chi Minh City-based Vinhomes Grand Park housing project within three days, setting a new home sales record for the country’s financial hub, the statement says.

“Their properties are doing well,” says Ralf Matthaes, founder of the Infocus Mekong Research consultancy in Ho Chi Minh City. “They got properties for super, super cheap and they’re selling at super premium prices,” he says. The group as whole has become a “dominant brand” in Vietnam over the past decade, Matthaes adds.

VinFast sold an in-house monthly record of 3,600 cars in September, when the subsidiary also launched its President model SUVs and sold 100 of those in the same month, the statement says. VinSmart introduced three new smartphone models for domestic consumers in the third quarter and one, the Vsmart Live 4, sold 14,000 smartphones in its first 10 days.

Quarterly net revenues for Vingroup rose 14% year on year to 35.9 trillion dong, the statement says. Inventory property revenue reached 26 trillion dong.

Revenue from the group’s hospitality and entertainment side shrank 54% from the same period last year to 1.2 trillion dong as border closures imposed earlier this year to control Covid-19 curtailed tourist arrivals.

Business shutdowns in four provinces following a Covid-19 spike in central Vietnam in July impacted some Vingroup shopping malls, hotels, and entertainment complexes, the group’s statement says. But things went back to normal in September for all stores inside its Vincom mall network. “The hospitality and entertainment segment also saw recovery with Vinpearl’s gradual re-opening of temporarily closed facilities to welcome back customers,” it says, referring to its hotel-resort subsidiary.

The Hanoi-based conglomerate posted 2019 revenue of about $5.5 billion. Vuong, now the chairman, has an estimated net worth of $6.5 billion.